The Street Stops Here (2010 sports documentary)
June 3rd, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Kevin Shaw
Genre: sports documentary (high school basketball)
Long before New Jersey was being outfitted with a guinea tee & gold chain as prescribed by mainstream pop tv with some of those outrageous reality shows like the Jersey shore, Jerseylicious, Cake Boss, The Housewives of NJ, & other EYE-talian american mafioso digs such as the Sopranos(fuggetaboutit), and well before Kevin Smith’s low budget, indie sleeper CLERKS…New Jersey’s grit, grime, tough & resilient attitude can be better characterized by Jersey City’s own, Bobby Hurley Senior! This inspiring documentary called “The Street Stops Here” chronicles Bobby Hurley as the basketball coach of St. Anthony’s High School in Jersey City, NJ since 1972! Hurley is a dying breed of an old school regime offering no nonsense sentiments encapsulated in a pit bull stance!
Make no qualms about it, Hurley is a rough & tumble, motherload’ of a coach who pushes his kids to the limit bordering on verbal abuse sometimes. He enforces discipline with a militiary state of mind and rules with a mental ironbound’ hand to make sure his students are going in the right direction. Hurley states that in these dangerous streets of Jersey City amongst the drugs, crime, guns, unemployment, gangs, & other temptations, his tough love method of discipline for his kids & his community are much needed. He provides basketball as a tool for his students to rise out of the ashes of jersey city to meet their next quest of higher learning. If his kids can get out of JC and make it to college, he has done his job. Where does Hurley get his savviness for dealing with these kids you ask? Answer: he has been a probation officer for 21 years in Jersey City. Since 1972, Hurley has 900 wins, 22 state championships, 2 national titles, & nursed 150+ division 1 players in his stint as coach for the St. Anthony Friars! The Friars are recognized as having the most dominant high school basketball program in the nation! His 2 sons Bobby and Danny have gone through St. Anthony’s as well. Bobby Hurley jr. went on to a great career at Duke capturing 2 national titles with Duke University under the helm of Mike Krzyzewski. Besides coaching at St. Anthony’s, Hurley Sr. also is the director of recreation for Jersey City. He helps reform convicts even though 4/5 repeat offenders will still end up being incarcerated in the end. If he can help 1 out of 5 people change their lives, he feels it’s worth it.
This documentary tells the tale of his 2008 team at St. Anthony’s and their quest to regain their state title with an all senior team. No all senior team under Hurley has ever NOT won a state championship! Talk about pressure! This film would also reveal the struggles of St. Anthony’s as a school trying to stay afloat. Tuition at St. Anthony’s is $4000 per student and every year they struggle financially to raise 1.5 million to keep their doors open. For those that think St. Anthony’s operate under posh conditions just because they are a private catholic school then think again. The school has 3 classes conducted in a trailer, 12 regular classrooms, and the weight room, cafeteria, locker room, & auditorium double as classrooms. They don’t even have a gymnasium of their own to practice in. The Friars rented an old bingo hall for 28 years called the white eagle, but now they rent court time in a local recreation center. St. Anthony’s has students from all over the tri-state area including brooklyn & queens. Some kids even have an hour or more commute to school one way. The 2008 senior class that this documentary followed were: Jio Fontan, Mike Rosario, Alberto Eastwick(Brooklyn),AJ Rogers(Queens),Travon Woodhall, & Tyshawn Taylor. It’s also a Hurley family affair as his wife Chris has been the scorekeeper for the past 22 years and the daughter is still in the stands rooting for the friars just like she did when she was a cheerleader. I’m not going to rehash the whole story of THE STREET STOPS HERE but a few key points of the film include a tribute to Sister Mary Alan, one of the schools saviors; St. Anthony’s harrowing financial troubles; & some important games with St. Patrick’s from Elizabeth, Lincoln from Brooklyn, & Trenton State. In March 2008 during a practice session, Hurley preached what he called the “fear of the lord” to his players which was a psychological ploy to keep his kids operating as one unit in preparation for the playoff/championship run. You’ll have to watch the film to see if the senior class of 2008 for St. Anthony’s would gain a 23rd state championship or not! The seniors would go on to bigger & better things on the horizon! Travon Woodall would attend the University of Pittsburgh, Jio Fontan – University of Southern california, AJ Rogers – St Joseph’s University, Alberto Estwick – Fordham University, Tyshawn Taylor – University of Kansas, Dominic Cheek – Villanova University, & Mike Rosario – Rutgers University.
Bobby Hurley still continues to coach at St. Anthony’s despite getting numerous offers from the NBA, College, & player scouts to work his magic at their respective organization. Hurley has since retired from his day job of Director of Recreation in Jersey City. Coach Hurley really cares about the kids at St. Anthony’s. His only mission is to educate & arm his students with discipline so that they can depart the inner city for better & safer pastures. Some legendary basketball coaches like Roy Williams, Morgan Wootten, & Mike Krzyzewski had nothing but great praise for Bobby Hurley & his passion for his community. Some players that he coached includes :
David Rivers – Notre Dame 1988) & NBA, John Valentin(Seton Hall) mlb veteran, Terry Dehere(Seton Hall 1993) & NBA, (Son) Bobby Hurley(Duke University 1993) & NBA, (Son) Danny Hurley (Seton Hall 1996)HS teacher/basketball coach, Rashon Burno (Depaul University 2002) financial advisor/teacher, Jerry Walker (Seton Hall 1993) community organizer, Roshown Mcleod – (Duke University 1998) & NBA, Anthony Perry (Georgetown University 2001) social worker, Rodrick Rhodes (USC 1997) & NBA, Willie Banks (MLB veteran).
I’ll leave you with a few quotes from the documentary:
“no one is bigger than the program.”
“sports is like life. If you have obstacles, you have to find your away around them to make yourself stronger.”
“To stay in the belly of the beast says a lot about the man.” – quote from one of his players.
Tags: basketball documentary, bobby hurley, friars, jersey city, kevin shaw, st anthonys, the street stops here
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